UAE Desert Challenge preview

UAE Desert Challenge To Stay On Top of The World
Sulayem makes pledge to keep event at the forefront of World Championship
cross country rallying as stars prepare for start
Dubai, UAE, 9 October, 2004: Mohammed Ben Sulayem, the driving...

UAE Desert Challenge To Stay On Top of The World

Sulayem makes pledge to keep event at the forefront of World Championship
cross country rallying as stars prepare for start

Dubai, UAE, 9 October, 2004: Mohammed Ben Sulayem, the driving force
behind the UAE Marlboro Desert Challenge, pledged today that the event
will remain at the forefront of international cross country rallying in
the years ahead.

Sulayem, chairman of the organising committee for the event which he
launched in 1991, said the Desert Challenge will continue to set the
standard for the FIA World Cup for Cross Country Rallies, the series for
cars and trucks, and the FIM Cross Country Rallies World Championship for
bikes.

Speaking at today's official pre-event press conference at the rally HQ,
Dubai International Marine Club, Sulayem said: "We're committed as
organisers to making sure that the UAE Desert Challenge keeps pace with
the changes taking place in cross country rallying, and stays in the
sport's top flight."

"We want to continue to attract all the major manufacturers' teams, and
the top drivers and riders from around the world, and at the same time
encourage more competitors from the Middle East to compete against the
best from overseas."

Added Sulayem: "In a nutshell, we want to make this an even bigger and
better event in the future, and we'll be looking for new ways to develop
it as a spectacle, and as a vehicle to promote the UAE, and safety of
competitors will remain a major priority."

Beginning at 3.30pm at the Jebel Ali Racecourse in Dubai tomorrow
(Sunday), the Nakheel Prologue will be a thrilling appetiser for the main
event which starts officially from the Marina Mall in Abu Dhabi at 9.30am
on Monday morning.

The Desert Challenge is being held under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh
Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme
Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, and H.H. General Sheikh Mohammed Bin
Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Minister of Defence of the
UAE.

The rally's status was highlighted by the quality and range of
competitors who joined Sulayem for today's official press conference.
They included Frenchman Stephane

Peterhansel, arguably the world's top cross country rally driver and
winner of the event for the last two years, his Japanese Mitsubishi
team-mate and fellow-Dakar Rally winner, Hiroshi Masuoka, and former
world rally champions Juha Kankkunen of Finland and Britain's Colin
McRae in a Nissan Pick-up.

Also appearing was Norway's Pal Pål Anders Ullevålseter, on the verge of
becoming the new world bikes champion of cross country rallying, veteran
French driver Bruno Saby and his Volkswagen team-mate, top German leady
driver Jutta Kleinschmidt, and former world Group N rally champion
Gregoire de Mevius of Belgium.

From Abu Dhabi on Monday morning, the event heads south for the first of
four competitive stages, each of around 360ms, culminating in night
halts at the bivouac beside the notorious Moreeb Hill, one of the
towering sand dunes which characterise the Rub Al Khali or Empty Quarter.

The next three days brings dramatic action in the desert before the final
leg on Friday takes the survivors north to the finish at Dubai
International Marine Club at 4.30pm.

An innovative tracking system will create an unprecedented level of
security for more than 127 prototype cars, modified four-wheel drive
vehicles, bikes and trucks as they take on some of the most dramatic and
remote desert terrain in the Middle East.

While similar devices have been used on selected vehicles in previous
events, it will be the first time that an advanced tracking system has
provided total cover in a World Championship cross country rally,
allowing rally officials to trace every move of the entire field and
launch an immediate response to all emergencies.

Iritrack is a complete onboard system for tracking and safety by
satellite with world coverage, and will be fitted on every car, bike and
truck taking part. Linked to a satellite communications network operated
by France Telecom, it works in the most remote areas on earth and is part
of an ongoing investment to keep the Desert Challenge at the top in cross
country rallying.

The event has expanded from four to five days of competitive rallying
this year in line with plans by the FIA, motor sport's world governing
body, to upgrade the existing World Cup series and create a calendar of
World Championship super events. The likelihood is that each round would
be required to stretch to a minimum of six days of competitive off-road
rallying in a bid to establish greater consistency between events and
ensure the support of the major manufacturers' teams.